For the first time, scientists have found a direct relationship between global warming and the evolution of contemporary wildlife. A research team led by Stanford University biologist Elizabeth A. Hadly published its findings in the Sept. 7 online edition of the journal PloS Biology.
“We think we know a lot about how animals might respond to global warming, but we really have very little idea about their actual genetic response to environmental change,” said Hadly, an assistant pro
Novel Gene Therapy for Bladder Cancer Shows Strong Results in Animal Studies HOUSTON – Gene therapy that causes the bladder to act like a “bioreactor” to produce and secrete the anti-cancer agent interferon-alpha has shown dramatic benefits in preclinical tests, say researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.
The researchers say their findings, published in the September issue of Molecular Therapy, suggest this gene therapy strategy holds much promise for tr
A mixed epigenetic and genetic and mixed de novo and inherited model may explain most cases of autism
Researchers have proposed a new hypothesis on the cause of autism, suggesting a mixed epigenetic and genetic and mixed de novo and inherited (MEGDI) model. Their hypothesis, and evidence to support it, will be published September 8, 2004 in the online edition of the American Journal of Medical Genetics Part A, and will be available via Wiley InterScience at http://www.interscience.w
Tiny types of soil bugs already make many of the products we use in washing detergents, foods, and waste treatment, but scientists now hope that similar bacteria will also make the vaccines and drugs of the future, according to new research presented today (Tuesday, 07 September 2004) at the Society for General Microbiology’s 155th Meeting at Trinity College Dublin.
Researchers from the Institute of Cell and Molecular Studies at Newcastle University have successfully produced small q
Researchers from Rockefeller University, New York, have developed a new way of killing dangerous bacteria like the ones which cause anthrax and pneumonia, using products from a virus, according to new research presented today (Tuesday, 07 September 2004) at the Society for General Microbiology’s 155th Meeting at Trinity College Dublin.
The new bug-smashing technique uses the bacteria’s own natural enemies, tiny viruses called bacteriophages (or phages), which can infect bacterial c
The slippery mucus on the skin of rainbow trout is being studied by scientists as a possible source of new medicines to fight infectious diseases, according to research presented Monday, 06 September 2004 at the Society for General Microbiology’s 155th Meeting at Trinity College Dublin.
“Anglers, cooks and anyone cleaning up mess in their kitchen know how difficult it is to hold onto fresh slippery fish like rainbow trout,” says Dr Vyv Salisbury from the University of the West of En
Bee stings may provide a solution to overcome the growing problem of antibiotic resistance in bacteria according to new research presented Monday, 06 September 2004 by Belfast scientists at the Society for General Microbiology’s 155th Meeting at Trinity College Dublin.
A small protein found in bee venom called melittin can break open the protective skin which surrounds all cells, including cells in our own bodies, and the membranes which enclose bacteria.
“This new approach
Stopping bacteria from talking to each other could help prevent serious infections say scientists from Aberdeen, in new research presented Monday, 06 September 2004 at the Society for General Microbiology’s 155th Meeting at Trinity College Dublin.
“It is war out there. Bacteria need to wait until there are enough of them to attack us, otherwise they just get beaten off by our skin, the antibodies which patrol our blood, and our other defences,” says Professor Andrew Porter from Aberde
About half of today’s children have tooth decay, so a new solution that blocks the action of bacteria which attack teeth could bring significant benefits, say scientists speaking Monday, 06 September 2004 at the Society for General Microbiology’s 155th Meeting at Trinity College Dublin.
Researchers from the Department of Oral Immunology at King’s College London have discovered how the bacteria which attack teeth, Streptococcus mutans, attach themselves to the enamel surface. O
While the nucleus of a cell may be its command headquarters, mitochondria are equally vital—they are the power plants of the cell, and without them all cellular activity would quickly and irrevocably come to a halt. Testifying to their origins as once free-living bacteria, mitochondria have their own DNA, comprising 37 genes in humans on a single circular chromosome. However, most of the mitochondria’s presumed ancestral genes have been taken into the cell’s nucleus, where they are under t
Immunity to a cancer in chickens could shed light on ways to control certain human cancers according to scientists from the Institute for Animal Health (IAH). Their work on Marek’s disease (MD) in chickens has identified the first natural model for specific Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas, and is published this week in PNAS (06-10 September 2004).
Marek’s disease virus (MDV) shares many biological properties with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) – a major cause of Hodgkin’s disease.
Analyzing the frequency among human populations of a variant in a gene that influences vulnerability to heart disease, biologists have found evidence that the gene has been influenced by the pressure of natural selection. What’s more, this evolutionary pressure has influenced heart disease risk.
An analysis of data on the genetic variation among 2,400 British middle-aged men indicated that the men would have suffered 43 percent more heart attacks had the positive selection for
Heart disease is Europe’s leading cause of death, but new research shows that the disease’s toll would be much greater had natural selection not shifted the frequency of susceptibility genes over the past few tens of thousands of years. The work underscores the role of ancient natural selection in shaping contemporary public health.
The findings are reported by Matthew Rockman, Dagan Loisel, and Greg Wray at Duke University, Matthew Hahn at UC Davis, and David Goldstein and Nicole
Virologists at Duke University Medical Center have discovered that, under the right conditions, a common cold virus closely related to poliovirus can cause polio in mice.
The researchers injected a cold virus called Coxsackievirus A21 into mice that were engineered to be susceptible to this particular virus. However, instead of developing a cold, the mice unexpectedly displayed paralytic symptoms characteristic of polio. The researchers determined that administering the virus dir
Researchers in Sweden and the United States have publicly released a new database of many of the most important genes in a tree genome. This collection of genes, which includes a large proportion of those expressed during tree growth, is among the best for any plant species.
“This is an important fundamental step towards doing the type of genetic and biotechnology research with trees that we’ve been able to do with only the most scientifically well-known plants,” said Steven Stra
New research has shown, using human tissue biopsies – a hypothesis that until now could only be argued indirectly using cell cultures – that the significant increase in genomic “disorder” that is associated with breast cancer occurs in the transition between the typical hyperplasia and the in situ carcinoma, coinciding with a reduction to a critical minimum in the cell chromosome terminations (known as telomeres). This process of critical reduction, occurring due to the accumulation of cell divis
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